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Rhoten Smokes at Angel Fire!
WeBe Racing/Rocky Mountain Enduro Circuit
Rounds 3/3: Angel Fire Enduro
Angel Fire, NM - July 30, 2006
By George Pennington
Eric Rhoten topped a multi-state contingent of riders as he steamrolled the Pro Class on the slippery, rocky slopes of the Angel Fire Ski resort, near Taos, New Mexico, posting a convincing win over Colorado's Bernie Frederick during round three of the WeBeRacing.com's Hare Scrambles Series.
Utilizing the steep ski slopes of the resort, WeBe Racing's Brett Craig first shot riders out of the start, straight up the grassy faces of the mountain for what some estimated to be a 2000' vertical ascent to the top that took over a mile of trail time to reach. Broken up by a couple of horizontal sections of singletrack, the most powerful of bikes were able to catch fifth gear, wide open up the grassy faces as they topped the 10,000' summit. In strict adherence to the law of gravity, i.e.: what goes up must go down; riders soon found themselves racing down a combination of slippery, rocky, tight, tree lined double and single-track trail to the start area below where another seven mile lap awaited. The top eight A riders completed seven laps, while the majority of the pack completed six.
Rhoten created his winning advantage on the opening lap as he blazed to the front of the pack and created a 25 second gap back to 2nd place Pro Class racer Bryan Bruning, who in turn was maintaining about 20 seconds over Sherco mounted Tim Hillsamer. While Rhoten's lead was never challenged, the same couldn't be said for Bruning as he ultimately surrendered his position to both Hillsamer and Frederick as well as 250A winner Taylor Hefftner. Laps two through five belonged to Frederick as he started reeling in Rhoten, narrowing his 53 second deficit down to nothing and putting the pressure on Rhoten. In response, Rhoten accelerated the pace considerably, putting an 8 second gap between himself and Frederick that he would stretch into 20 seconds at the finish as he posted the fastest lap of the day on his final go-round at 16:52. Hillsamer, Hefftner and Bruning maintained third through fifth overall respectively. Tyler Gunderman crossed the line for sixth overall and second 250 A, while Ian Blythe edged John Perpar for the Open A win and seventh overall. RMEC rider Lance Bross topped the 30 A's, finishing 11th overall.
The B class was dominated by Allan Phillips who rode his way up to 12th overall on the way to the Open B win, while the next five B positions were filled out by age group riders, possibly reinforcing the theory of old age and treachery overcoming youth and ambition. Mike Hefftner topped the 50 year olds at 16th overall, while Pat Soester topped PJ Marquez for the 40 year old win. The 30 B's were topped by Reed Galbraith who gapped Kyle Krause by 58 seconds.
Honda mounted Fred Haskill topped the C class overall, taking home the +40 honors in the process as he topped the battling O'Rourke's, Wesley and Thomas who finished a minute back of him, but whose battle had them finishing a narrow eight seconds apart after 28 mi. of racing.
Jason Dacko rolled his Yamaha across the line for fourth overall and the Open A victory, while local rider Roger Pattison rounded out the top five, second in +40. Michael McMahon was first +30 rider in, finishing ninth overall and completing an additional lap over second place finisher Todd Tomlinson. Kerrie Pattison piloted a CRF250X to top woman on the day, while James Fastle topped the Trials bike class, noting that it was a long and tiring way to spend "standing up."
Results:
Pro: 1. Eric Rhoten; 2. Bernie Frederick; 3. Tim Hillsamer; 4. Bryan Bruning; 5. Joey Hamilton
250
A: 1. Taylor Hefftner; 2. Tyler Gunderman;
Open A: 1. Ian Blythe; 2. John Perpar; 3. Keith Busch; 4. Mark Staadt; 5. Chris Williamson
30+ A: 1. Lance Bross; 2. Rusty Davis; 3. Curt Patana; 4. Cory Adair; 5. John Harris
40+ A: 1. George Pennington; 2. Kevin O'Leary; 3. Aaron Turner; 4. Paul Scroggie; 5. Alan Beyer
200 A: 1. Nicole Bradford
250 B: 1. Kipp Hefftner; 2. T. Morgan Spradling; 3. John Cash; 4. Edgar Machucha; 5. Aaron
Vandesande
Open B: 1. Allan Philips; 2. Will Willits; 3. Gentry Howden; 4. Jay Struss; 5. Clayson Pearce
200 B: 1. Michael Trumble
30+ B: 1. Reed Galbraith; 2. Kyle Krauss; 3. Tony Reed; 4. Billy McDermott; 5. Dave Gallegos
40+ B: 1. Pat Soester; 2. PJ Marquez; 3. Kent Krebs; 4. Lewis Walck; 5. Brian Jonas
50+ B: 1. Mike Hefftner; 2. Kenny Perkins; 3. Mike Frederick; 4. Bill Hampton
250 C: 1. Wesley O'Rourke; 2. Thomas O'Rourke; 3. Kalib Heidenreich; 4. Tyler Heidenreich;
5. Dale Bullitt
Open C: 1. Jason Dacko; 2. Jarrett Vanderheiden; 3. Michael Putnam; 4. Chad Armstrong;
5. Judah Conwell
200 C: 1. Brandon Leslie; 2. Gabe Apple; 3. Greg McPherson
30+ C: 1. Michael McMahon; 2. Todd Tomlinson; 3. Mike Sharlow; 4. James Robinson;
5. Rob Tibljas
40+ C: 1. Fred Haskill; 2. Roger Pattison; 3. P. Hardsteel; 3. Tim Emery; 4. Lynton Leslie
5. Lupe Machuca
Ladies: 1. Kerrie Pattison; 2. Genevieve Lynch; 3. Megan Applegate
16 & Under: 1. Loren Christensen; 2. Brandon Fackler; 3. Sam Johnson; 4. Tyler Pennington;
5. Tyler Endres
Trials: 1. James Fastle; 2. Lance Butler